Proximity Button

TMW Unlimited / Proximity

In December 2014, TMW Unlimited ran a business incubation programme, inviting its staff to propose a business idea. It was won by Natalie, who had an idea for a device that would help dementia sufferers.

Objectives

To develop and bring to market the Proximity Button.

Strategy and execution

Natalie’s idea was to create a smart badge that would connect dementia sufferers to their carer's smartphone, allowing the carer to be alerted should they wander too far. TMW would invest time and money into the product's design, its software and back-end technology.

Work focused initially on the design and requirements for the Proximity Button and app, which would use low-energy Bluetooth and would work in environments where GPS would fail.

A prototype app was built for Android using open source and proprietary beacon libraries to process data, while 3D-printed badges and bracelets were tested.

Results

A prototype app was completed for Android and iOS and the final version of the Proximity Button was designed, produced and taken to market in December 2016.